Mainland residents enjoy the relief of decorating
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
As Halloween approaches, the most frightening thing out there this year is the deadly coronavirus that is once again accelerating its pace across America.
Many towns locally and across the nation have canceled trick or treating as part of their efforts to slow the spread of the deadly virus.
But that has not doused the Halloween spirit in an apple-bobbing tub, as plenty of folks have gone out of their way to decorate their homes and provide holiday cheer for themselves and those stopping by.
In Northfield, where the mayor has canceled official trick or treating, Ray Seitz and his wife, Tina, along with several neighbors on East Oakcrest Avenue, have created “Haunted Sidewalks of Oakcrest,” where the walkways have been roped off for an interactive display complete with spooky sounds, light and smoke effects.
“Every night I get done work and I’m out here putting up decorations,” Seitz said, adding that he has joined forces with a couple of neighbors to create an interactive display while also adhering to social distancing guidelines.
He said instead of placing candy in a bowl, there will be individually wrapped bags that trick or treaters can take on their own. Those organizing the event will wear gloves and masks and disinfect the area.
“We’re trying to encourage all of our neighbors to do the same thing,” Seitz said.
They plan to use a vacant lot as part of the display, as well as an area where cars can park temporarily.
“What we are trying to do also is have an area where the trick or treaters, a lot of them in recent years, they go by vehicle. The parents drive them around to the populated, lights-on areas, they get out, go trick or treating and get back in the car,” Seitz said. “We’ll be having temporary stop-and-go parking in the vacant lot. You can drive up, hit the designated sidewalks, enjoy the scary music and get some candy.”
Seitz does not have any children, but said “technically I have seven kids, but they’re all cats.”
He said he goes to such extremes because he loves it.
“I’ve always loved Halloween. Christmas is so commercialized but Halloween — a little trick, a little treat — Halloween is acceptable to put out anything you think is scary or spooky,” he said.
In addition to the decorations, Seitz has a lot of political signs mixed in, which he thinks is appropriate.
“Right now, politics are scary,” he said. “To me, four more years is the scariest thing out there.”
Seitz said he and his wife have been working on their part of the display for about two weeks.
“My wife started putting out a few different things, then gave me the go-ahead and I just started running with it from there,” he said, adding that most of his decorations are from a dollar store.
He said they do not always decorate and never to this extreme before, but “this year we decided to try to revive the Halloween spirt because it’s sort of a little bit in jeopardy.”
Seitz also wants to give local children a safe option for trick or treating.
“If we can do that in a socially distanced type of way, that’s the key thing and it’s definitely beneficial,” Seitz said. “It’s nice to be able to provide the outlet with some interactive neighbors, maybe a little more so than usual, for some good Halloween fun and spirit.”
On Broad Street in Northfield, Frank Tumolo, owner of Amici’s restaurant on Shore Road in Somers Point, has an elaborate display with sound effects, projections and a lot of ghouls and goblins.
He and his daughter, Sierra, 24, who is studying in the radiology department at Shore Medical Center, have spent nearly a year working on their display.
Tumolo said he has lived in the house for 27 years and always celebrated Halloween by decorating and holding parties.
“We did decorate when my daughter was real young, then last year we saw these projection decorations and decided to do it this year,” Tumolo said.
He said a lot of the stuff has been accumulated over the years and decided that since the nation is still dealing with a pandemic, it would be nice to lighten the mood.
“I knew this year with COVID that there was going to be issues maybe with trick or treating and I wanted to put something out that people could enjoy and uplift the neighborhood a little bit,” he said, adding that some of his neighbors have put decorations up as well.
Tumolo said he enjoys the process of creating and setting everything up.
“Instead of thinking of work all of the time, I come home and fool with this tonight or fool with that,” Tumolo said.
The lawn features a skeletal horse pulling a lighted wagon, multiple pumpkins, ghosts and assorted other apparitions. But the projections are really very much worth seeing.
A hologram in his window shows a variety of scenes, such as a witch brewing up a potion in a smoky cauldron, spiders and pumpkins. There also is a 6-foot humanoid statue that comes to life as a witch, zombie or “whatever I want it to come to life with.”
Sierra Tumolo’s favorite decoration is the three seemingly ordinary pumpkins.
“We set up three regular pumpkins and there is a projection. They tell little jokes and poems and they sing,” she said.
There also is a group of sensor-motioned skeletons that light up with bright red eyes and an inflatable crystal ball.
Asked what her mother, Melissa, thought about the display, Sierra said “she thinks it’s a bit much — but go big or go home.”
Her father said they will put some candy on a table for children to pick up themselves.
Tumolo said he undertakes all of the work as something to do with his daughter.
“When my daughter was young, we used to have Halloween parties for her with all of her classmates, kids coming over, blow-up spook houses on the lawn, a smoke machine,” he said. “We work a lot so we just decided to do something fun instead of always working and it benefits the entire community.”
Tanya Malcolm and son Ethan Malcolm, 14, who have a great display space on the corner of Haines and Lincoln avenues in Linwood, said they decorate as a fun way for the family to get together.
She and her husband, Stan, are always adding to the display.
“Every year it gets bigger and bigger,” Malcolm said, adding that they have lived there for 15 years.
“Usually we start the first week or two of October and we keep growing and growing,” Ethan said, adding that it makes Halloween more special.
His mother said they usually get a couple of hundred children, maybe as many as 300, stopping by on Halloween but do not know what to expect this year.
“Right now we are trying to figure out how we are going to hand out the candy,” she said. “We’re thinking about using tubes and sliding it down. Make sure they’re 6 feet apart and three at a time and just shoot it down.”
Malcolm said they go to the effort for the neighborhood children more so than for her own kids.
“We’ve got kids that come from a couple of blocks away and walk by every day,” she said.
Malcolm said they had purchased a 6.5-foot inflatable Pennywise from the Stephen King thriller “It” but had not put it up yet.
While Linwood and Somers Point have scheduled trick or treating for 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, Northfield has canceled its official celebration.
During a City Council meeting Tuesday, Oct. 20, Councilman Greg Dewees said he had received numerous calls and messages inquiring about trick or treating. He said people were not sure what they were and were not allowed to do.
City solicitor Mark Stein said Mayor Erland Chau stated that the city is not hosting official activities but that if people choose to celebrate they can. He suggested that people turn off their porch light if they are not participating.
Other events around the area include “Murders, Mysteries & Ghost Stories” at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, at the Somers Mansion in Somers Point.